From Law School Trolling To Solicitor General In Less Than 4 Years

A sad commentary.

Happy university college student thumbs upWhen the Trump administration yanked the Ninth Circuit nomination of Ryan Bounds after a string of racist college essays came out, it felt like a turning point. After a few decades of go-getter conservative students consistently raising the stakes on trollish campus behavior to ingratiate themselves to the right-wing powers that be — owning the libs to the delight of future patrons — a young nominee got burned for acting out. As we noted at the time, it’s entirely possible that he’d long-since matured from those days, but that’s not so much the point. The career arc of Rush Limbaugh cosplay to future prestige had gone off the rails in public fashion.

Future hopefuls needed to rethink their campus choices.

Wow did I get that one wrong! Campus Republicans are openly mocking Trans visibility, inviting recognized hate groups for chats, and doxxing the rest of the students for not inviting them to parties. Far from inspiring discretion, the episode seems to have only inspired those students to troll harder, placing their faith in a future where the country looks back at the Trump administration as left-wing cucks.

And why not? It keeps paying off for these folks.

Eric Wessan will serve as Solicitor General, leading the State’s representation in the United States Supreme Court, Iowa Supreme Court, and other state and federal appellate courts. He’ll play a critical role in Attorney General-elect Bird’s efforts to push back against the Biden Administration and defend all of Iowa’s statutes.

Iowa’s new Solicitor General departs King & Spalding, where he was an associate. That’s because Wessan was still in law school as recently as 2019. That’s where Above the Law readers first ran across him, as the chair of the University of Chicago Law School’s Edmund Burke Society when the group advertised an event describing immigration policy as turning the U.S. into “a porcelain receptacle for other nations’ wretched refuse” and “inviting disease into the body politic.” Nothing redeeming came out of this event. Well, that’s not quite true — it did prompt Chicago professor M. Todd Henderson to quit Twitter after he whined that conservatives were the real victims and got spectacularly dragged by a student. But that was it.

Now, less than four years from graduation, he’s a state solicitor general. In fact, he’s heading up a state’s advocacy efforts having only been a real lawyer for less than two! Because he’d clerked for Judge John Kness of the Northern District of Illinois and James Ho of the Fifth Circuit before joining the firm. Which is fitting as Judge Ho is as openly committed to championing campus trolling as anyone in the federal judiciary. 

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But it underscores the conservative legal movement’s present cursus dishonorum. Allegations of racism? No problem! Prestigious federal circuit clerkships await! Paucity of practical legal experience? It’s all good! Happy to put associates on the federal bench! Willingness to throw out basic legal principles for partisan gain? Even Aileen Cannon gets a lifetime job!

Generate publicity for comparing immigrants to toilet people, earn Judge Ho’s stamp of approval, practice law for less than two years and presto! Solicitor general gig!

When that’s a realistic outcome, nothing is going to turn down the trolling.

Iowa Attorney General-elect Bird Announces Additional Senior Staff Positions [EIN Newswires]

Earlier: You Should Absolutely Read This Insane Law School Event Promo Calling Immigrants Toilet People
UChicago Law Responds To Race-Baiting Student Event With ‘Fine People On Both Sides’ Schtick
UChicago Administration Doubles Down On Mocking Immigrants — So Much For That ‘Environment Of Inclusion’ They Said Was So Important
Crybaby Law Professor Quits Twitter In A Huff Over UChicago Immigration Slur Debacle
Law School Students Just Saw A Radical Shift In The Pathway To Success

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